I’m going to advocate for something that will leave some Cavs fans questioning my sanity; trading Jamison and Sessions and taking back “bad” contracts that end in 2013 – 2014 as a return, to some extent for the sake of having the bad contracts. Benefits of owning and trading expiring contracts include:

When trading these assets, the other team relinquishes a more tangible, “this is going to help us win” related asset, in exchange for taking a “bad” contract off their books.

Free agency has a pretty poor track record. Unless a team is signing a no brainer max-contract player or signs inexpensive players at solid cost / benefit, a majority of $4 to $12 million annual contracts have been poor value. Trading expirings allows a team to build where they have more control, through trades and the draft.

Almost all lopsided trades include an expiring, salary balancing contract; Theo Ratliff and Wally Szczerbiak in the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades to the Celtics, Kwame Brown for Paul Gasol to the Lakers, Erick Dampier brought Tyson Chandler to the Mavericks …honestly, this list could be long.

For the Cavs, I think there is almost no downside to taking back deals that expire by 2013 – 2014. Reasons include:

Kyrie or any other youngsters won’t need extended until after that. There is no reasonable way the Cavs run up against salary cap issues in this timeframe. Cleveland will need to pay someone over the next two years; it’s likely better as a short term commitment through a trade than an overpaid free agent.

Once the more prohibitive luxury tax kicks in, the NBA could see heavily lopsided trades. Trading for contracts with a couple of years remaining right now has a dual benefit. It gives the Cavs expiring contracts to include in those robberies, and also helps restrict long-term payroll obligations, so they can take on money while staying under the luxury tax themselves.

Finally, other examples of team’s using cap space or trading expiring contracts to their benefit are:

Dallas built their champion by continually trading expiring contracts to upgrade their roster.

Oklahoma City used their available cap space to take on Matt Harpring and Mo Petersons contracts. The payoff was that, as a bonus for taking those deals, they acquired Eric Maynor and the 11th pick in the 2010 draft.

On a parting note, I’ll offer a wild trade that requires the Cavs to take on $18 million of salary next year and $12 million through 2013 – 2014.

LA gets Dwight Howard, Ramon Sessions, third choice of the three 2012 first round selections.

The ESPN trade machine says it works, and it has benefits for all three teams.

For Cleveland

Certainly some Cavs fans are screaming at their computers right now, and I understand that some of you still will be after my explanation. Maybe converts can be won by breaking it down this way:

Jamison’s expiring contract for Turkoglu and Walton’s near-term expiring contracts. Walton expires next season and Turkoglu in 2013 – 2014. Basically until youngsters start needing extensions, Cleveland has short term filler instead of over-paying a free agent. Ideally Turkoglu’s contract can facilitate grand larceny at the trade deadline in 2014; at a minimum, it can be traded to acquire additional assets. The Cavs keep plenty of salary cap flexibility, with an extension for Gee and 4 eventual first rounders; they have 12 players for $50 million in 2012 – 2013, 9 players for $42 million in 2013 – 2014, and only Varejao & rookie contracts in 2014 – 2015.

Sessions for a mid-first round pick in 2012.

Casspi and the 2014 2nd round pick for Goudelock, Liggins & the 2017 Lakers 1st round pick. Basically a known, below average player for a couple of unknown youngsters. Goudelock and Liggins were the 46th and 53rd picks in 2011. The players received combined salaries are lower than Casspi’s, plus the acquisition of a future first round pick. Piling up first round picks from now until forever can’t be a bad thing.

None of the three players that were traded are major parts of the Cavs’ future, this trade won’t result in salary cap concerns, and there are six new assets brought in (includes Walton and Hedo’s expiring deals). This is a trade with little downside that continues building on the Cavs’ future flexibility.

For Orlando

They move a big contract, allowing a match on offers for Ryan Anderson this summer without worrying about the salary cap. In 3 months time, they go from being a franchise severely over the luxury tax, looking at Dwight Howard’s impending departure, to possessing:

An under-25 front court of Andrew Bynum and Ryan Anderson. One a center fresh off averaging 16 points & 13 rebounds a game; the other a floor stretching, offensive rebounding power forward that lead the NBA in made three pointers.

Six 1st round picks in the next 4 years.

A team that’s under the salary cap in 2012 – 2013 and has $15 million worth of expiring contracts after that season.

This seems like the groundwork for a relatively smooth transition out of superstar abandonment.

For LA

The Lakers instantly become serious contenders again, with upgrades at center and point guard while taking on minimal additional salary.

first: your explanation makes total sense to me. if anyone is angry they should consider your earlier posts for foundation on your position.
second: i like the idea of moving assets for 50-75 cents on the dollar rather than 0.
third: i prefer the leverage with picks as assets rather than “lets hope this FA signing is beneficial”

I tend to agree with Keith. Large expiring contracts won’t hold as much value as you think they do in 2-3 years. By then much of the league will already be on shortened contracts because of the new CBA, reducing the amount of bad contracts compared to now. Many teams also still have their amnesty clause to free up cap space from bad contracts. It’s simply not worth it for Gilbert to pay Hedo/Walton for several years in hopes that their expirings will yield some lopsided trades in the future.

Marcus,
Chicago, LA, OKC, Atlanta, New York and Miami are all teams that will need to make luxury tax related decisions by 2014. That’s before two more summers of free agency. Maybe NBA teams have gotten smarter and will suddenly stop running into luxury tax problems.

You raise a good point about amnestying, but these teams may search out trade options first, in order to get some return on their investment.

Also Walton would only be paid for one more year and Turkoglu for two. I don’t consider either of those timeframes as several years.

Marcus and Keith,
If you don’t want to trade Jamison for a longer contract, which free agents are you targeting this summer? What do you think they’re worth?

Kevin, I’d rather see the Cavs wait for Jamison’s contract to expire and make an above-market offer to O.J. Mayo. It would probably be expensive, since he figures to have many suitors, but the Cavs would be acquiring a known-quantity at the team’s weakest position. Although not the best defender, he can score from anywhere on the court and all indications out of Memphis are that his attitude is no longer a problem.

Kevin, I would definitely be willing to shop Jamison at the deadline for a longer term contract. Hoever, it’s got to be the perfect piece for our team in the right deal.

With the new CBA, flexibility is everything. Being the tax and having an albatross of a contract really hurts you. Guys like Hedo, SJax, even now Gasol…their contracts are WAY above their value. That’s a future killer.

We know Kyrie has locked up the point. If Sessions opts out, then we have Boobie as a backup. If Sessions stays, we waive Boobie since his contract is non-guaranteed.

I understand the argument that space doesn’t always lead to perfect contracts, but in this case it’s the best bet to BUILDING the team the RIGHT way. I wouldn’t take a bad deal at the deadline to prohibit us from future moves.

Guys like Hedo and Walton have already had their shot. We are trying to build a new culture here. Those guys don’t fit in ONE BIT. Not worth rostering and sinking our flexibility.

Keith,
I’ll argue that it’s too early to be looking for the “perfect piece”. There are still too many openings to be filled.

The proposal above doesn’t really hurt the Cavs’ flexibility. They would still have $10 million-ish to sign free agents this summer and up to $18 million by summer of 2013. By the summer after that, Hedo’s contract is gone. Please explain a scenario where the Hedo contract is a “future killer”.

I don’t think Sessions is worth keeping on the roster. Kyrie and Sessions shouldn’t share the backcourt. A $4 million per year backup point guard is too much behind Kyrie. The Cavs’ backup point guard should either be young or old…but definitely cheap.

Also I think Hedo could fit for under 2 years. With Gibson as the backup point guard, the offense could run through Hedo in that lineup. He’s been bad this season, but maybe his heart and head aren’t in it, given the accelerated season and the DH drama. If he can play decent ball as a point-forward for 10 – 15 minutes a game for a year-and-a-half…that could fit in pretty well with the Cavs current parts.

If it doesn’t work out, it didn’t hurt much of anything, and he was never acquired in the first place specifically for the basketball fit.

I understand that Hedo isn’t hurting anything or taking up MAJOR space…but his contract inhibits flexibility. When I say “perfect piece” I am referring to guys who completely fit our gameplan. Youth core. Veterans who want to win.

Hedo is overpaid…had his chance…doesn’t seem like he’s going to turn it around. He’s not worth taking on for a low first rounder or roll of the dice young player.

Would I take on a guy like Hedo for a top 5 pick? Without hesitation. However, if I am going to absorb cap space, it has to be really worth it. You just don’t want a guy sucking up your space without any return. That’s caused so many problems for teams like the Magic and Pistons off the top of my head.

If we are going to help facilitate a trade and take on a contract like Hedu’s, I say we do it for nothing less than a very promising young player like Ryan Anderson (who Orlando will be loathe to trade – but can’t afford to sign). A trade like this makes a lot of sense for all three teams.

Basically, Orlando gets Sessions, Gasol, and Bynum. We Get Ryan Anderson and Hedu. The Lakers get Jameer Nelson, Jamison, and DH. The Sessions destination and the Nelson destination as well as draft picks can all get worked out.

Expirings in 2013-2014 will be valuable, because teams over the cap, or projected to be over the cap will be desperate to shed salary. That is the season the lower luxury tax, and punitive tax penalties kick in. But having cap space might be even more valuable for that same reason.

Instead of a trade for mediocre players like Hedu, I say we use our cap space this summer to bid up major young restricted free agents.

Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Nicholas Batum, Brook Lopez, Omer Asik, Brandon Rush (leading the league in 3pt%): All guys we have a decent of signing if we overpay for them (all their teams, save Gordon, are over the cap or trying to save their cap space). And if not we help put those teams out of the 2014 free agent race. I would include Mayo in that discussion, but he’s just not that good of a player for what he’s going to get paid. He’s just a name.

Other players who may shake loose include:
Gerald Wallace
Wilson Chandler (who we should go after now)

HoopsDogg and Keith,
Certainly part of my argument is that Hedo’s contract has value, beyond his actual playing ability. Expiring contracts are flexibility, again after one full season, his is expiring. Part of what the trade above buys is that flexibility.

If the Cavs sign 3 free agents for 4 years at a total $30 million per year, the team’s flexibility is reduced. They’ve pretty much declared, “this is our core”.

Acquiring near term expiring contracts maintains cap flexibility for several more years, plus the Cavs get a couple of additional first round picks to boot. Rookie contracts are the most likely to equal good value. If Hedo’s contract is never traded, there will be free agents in 2014 that the Cavs can sign, just like in 2012. Free agents that may be much more willing to come to Cleveland and play with the Cavs’ all-star point guard and several other quality youngsters that have been assembled.

Keith,
if the Cavs can’t manage to get someone to offer a great return for Jamison, and you let him expire; who are you going to sign in free agency this summer? THe Cavs probably need to spend $20 million-ish. How many dollars and years are you offering?

Frequently what causes teams problems is having players under 4 – 5 year contracts, where the player isn’t providing benefit worthy of the contract cost. Those contracts don’t have the ancillary benefits of being a near term trade chip. THose are the contracts, like Gordon and Villanueva in Detroit, that really hurt a team.

HoopsDogg,
your trade is only great for the Cavs. If the Lakers part with Bynum and Gasol for Howard and Jamison, did they get any better? Is 32 year old Pau Gasol for 2 more years and $40 million a better fit for Orlando than 24 year old Ryan Anderson at less than half the cost??

Regarding free agents, let’s say the Cavs bid up Gordon and Lopez and win. What do you think those contracts cost? With an Irving extension, those three will probably be 60% of the Cavs’ luxury tax space in the future. Is that a good enough core, or are the Cavs better served by being more patient?

Taking on turkoglu still leaves the Cavs with $10 million this summer for free agents. My preference would probably be to chase a couple of low priced “bench guys” that you describe; guys that don’t tie up a lot of cap space moving forward.

I’m glad to comment back and forth on this one. Obviously, different GM’s take different stances…we’re just looking at it different ways.

Certainly, the Cavs are going to need to spend $$ this summer. They’re forced to under the new CBA. I see that you mean Hedo would basically be a player / cap hold saving us space for the future.

In my mind, I want to chase young guys that help our core this summer. I’d rather overpay Spencer Hawes / Ryan Anderson / Nicolas Batum / OJ Mayo. We’re a small market team, the draft is the only way to really keep us flexible. If we’re forced to spend, I want UPSIDE to be a part of it.

Remember how we bounced Larry Hughes contract around. Hughes for Wallace…Wallace for Wally. Bad, huge contracts are just so tough to move. I don’t like Hedo as a player AT ALL…so I want nothing to do with him. Even if his contract holds our cap space until we really want to use it.

Keith,
I think you’re overlooking an aspect of the Larry Hughes situation that actually builds on my argument.

The Cavs got themselves in trouble by signing Hughes, Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones as overpaid free agents. Moving Hughes was hard because he had several years and tens of millions of dollars left on his contract. Turkoglu should be easier to move, as he’ll be an expiring contract soon.

The other difference between the Hughes contract and Hedo’s contract is the Cavs’ cap situation.

Between Lebron, Hughes, Marshall, Jones, Ilgauskas, Gooden, Varejao, etc…the Cavs were well over the salary cap and basically locked into a core. The Cavs are way below the salary cap right now. Even with the “bad” contract, the ability is maintained to sign free agents if they see a good value.

It may be a little early in the rebuilding process to lock into a core right now. Why not make another couple years worth of draft picks, try out some cheap agents, then see who’s a keeper and lock in the core in 2014-ish with extensions, a big free agent, a major trade, etc?

Whatever you do, hold on to Kyrie Irving. Here is an alternative statistical analysis to the question that TrueHoop raised over the weekend, “More special player: Irving or Rubio/”http://hoopstats101.blogspot.com/
Again, looking good for Cavs fans — though not looking too bad for Minnesota, either.

I agree with kevin that this could be a good move. It prevents us from signing another larry hughes or locking into expensive FA’s before we know what we have with our young peices (TT, Gee to an extent) and future draft pieces. We will not be contending next year or the year after that, but if we add as many first round picks in the upcoming 2 drafts as possible, and then have money to sign the perfect FA who actually fits with TT, Irving, Gee, Verajoa, and 3-4-5 1st round picks, or use expirings to get a steal via trade, we will be contending in 3 years. If we have all those assets we staring FAs in the face we might not even have to overspend like crazy in 2014 to get them to sign here either.

This year any FA’s we sign (and we will be forced to spend a lot of money via the new CBA) will come with a cleveland tax and might be replaced as starters by drafting the best player available in the upcoming drafts, and also won’t come with draft picks.

I’m hesitant to say Hedo’s contract will be any more valueable than jameson’s contract is now in 2014, because although yes, there will be harsher luxury penalties, all the teams you mention as likely to need to shed money also still have amnesty’s in there back pocket. There is little reason for them to give up big assets to shed a player they could just amnesty. But it would be nice to get more picks now while we are already waiting on young guys to develop, and wait to sign (oversign) known quantities until we have more knowledge of our core.

The big problem I see with it though, is that it is asking dan gilbert an awful lot to spend 25+ million for relatively useless cap filling players, a late 1st round pick (the best of the lakers, mavs, or magic picks will still be in the 20s) and another one in 5 years.

“your trade is only great for the Cavs. If the Lakers part with Bynum and Gasol for Howard and Jamison, did they get any better? Is 32 year old Pau Gasol for 2 more years and $40 million a better fit for Orlando than 24 year old Ryan Anderson at less than half the cost??”

Yes it is better, because if DH walks, then they only have Ryan Anderson, and if he stayk, they can’t afford to keep Anderson unless they find someone to take Turk.

I guess I don’t see the point of taking on 12 million in salary for 2 more years after this one for borderline d-leaguers and late first rounders. The last 20% of the NBA and the next 20% are virtually interchangeable. If you’re going to pay that salary, you could do much better for your money throwing it at quality free agents. Unless one of those picks turns into a top 15, which is a big maybe, I don’t see the point. Your point about bad contracts being somewhat trade-able in their last year is noted, but it’s even easier to trade for guys when you have cap room, and we can just sign veterans to one year deals if we want to re-create that kind of flexibility.

I think the one big sticking point that isn’t being discussed (beyond what Marcus said above) is that the new CBA prevents any Larry Hughes-type contracts. If the worst you can do is four years, it makes WAY more sense for the Cavs to look to sign someone this summer who is young and could have potential value rather than sign Jamison 2.0.

I’m actually rather surprised with you, Kevin. Basically, a late first rounder is an unknown entity and Hedo is worth almost nothing in the future (even as an expiring contract)

Really the only reason I’d ever see the Cavs do this is for the reasons Hoopsdogg said – if they’d get a KNOWN young player in return, such as Ryan Anderson (Who would nicely fill the Jamison role perfectly)

Beyond that, a simple pick seems stupid to me – I’d rather have cap and sign some average guys to short, large contracts (like we saw a bunch of teams do this year) until we find a FA we’re happy with.

I think the whole premise of this article that I am on board with is: replacing the need to overpay a FA now (when we are not contenders and the crop of Cavs needs @ FA is not that sweet) just to meet the minimum salary cap requirements of 85 and 90% VERSUS having patience and adding salary cap filler while we are still rebuilding. It basically puts our ability to spend for a FA in line with when our current core (Kyrie, TT, Gee) will be ready to take it to the next level, while still preserving the ability to add a piece or 2 along the way. One con to this approach would be – in the meantime, can we improve enough to a level where a very good FA or tradable player in 2014/15 sees Cleveland as an attractive place to play and win?

I think so, as our (draft picks)…. and some potential FA’s that fill needs for the next 2-3 years include:

There is also the Kings 1st rounder that could very well come into play if they make or just miss the playoffs by then. Not to mention any more acquired 1st rounders that allow us the ability to package with our own to move up a few spots in that respective draft. For instance, moving up a few spots to take a Jeremy Lamb from a team that doesn’t need a SG instead of us drafting a Meyers Leonard in this draft could be huge. Having multiple first rounders in upcoming drafts allows us the flexibility to secure a higher pick, even if we are winning more games.

People can argue that this is a poor idea, but no one is really presenting an alternative that seems to get the Cavs closer to a championship and have the ability to continue to improve after 3 years.

It’s hard to accept the idea that taking on a bad contract can be a good thing, but I get the basic premise. We will have enough flexibility as long as we don’t want to make an ‘aggressive’ push for a FA prior to Hedu’s contract expiring. I’m not sure who the ‘major’ FA’s are goiong to be in the summer of 2013, and I highly doubt we’ll want to make a splash at that time for the $10 millionish of cap space, but, I’d rather have that as an option than not – if possible. Just in general, I also think that Hedu’s expiring contract will be harder to move than Jamison’s is now. Largely because Jamison is still perceived as a good player, just way overpaid. Whereas Hedu isn’t really a good player, he just had a good contract year and hasn’t done much since signing his current contract. I don’t think anyone looks at him now, or will look at him in 2 years as a ‘final’ part of a championship quality team.

All that said, I’m not sure who/what better options there are out there if we want to balance between cap flexibiity and building a core. My prefernce actually lies more on the side of trading Jamison to somebody who needs to cut salary and has some younger quality talent they are willing to give up for that flexibility. Memphis has a lot of money tied up in Z-bo, Gasol and Gay. They likely won’t have the cap space availiable to re-sign Mayo, but they don’t have any other ‘bad’ contracts or a TPE that could make up the differnce for Jamison. Iggy was also reported to be on the block last year, but I doubt they try to move him now. Detroit acutally has some overpriced but still ‘solid’ talent on the roster that could fit into the Cavs (I’d take Ben Gordon’s $11mil/3yr deal) over Hedu. This move could also help persuade Session to stay since he and BG are reportedly good friends. This would give us a solid/good veteran wing and a very good, (tradeable) back-up PG. Not saying this is a ‘perfect scenario’ by any means, but I’d take the quality longer term player in Godon over the Hedu idea.

Dr. K: interesting article. Based on what they said, I don’t know if I’d give the edge to Kyrie though. What I like about Rubio is that he’s really serving as a ‘true’ PG and getting/keeping his teammates involved and making the team better. This is the type of player that Magic, Kidd, and CP3 are (the 3 PG’s B. Scott is most closely tied to), and these are the types of guys we were hoping to get when we drafted Kyrie as ‘a true pg’. Maybe, he’s serving as more of a combo guard out of necessity and maybe B. Scott will have to tweak his system to fit kyrie a bit better (or Kyrie adjust his game). But, just based on what we said we wanted in a PG during the draft and seeing what we have, are two different things. By no means would I say that I’m dissapointed in Kyrie’s play (I actually have been quite impressed), I’m just saying that to date, Rubio actually fits the mold of what we said we wanted better than Kyrie is. Just recognizing two different players and styles, it’s like you can debate between CP3 and Rose, one is a great facillitator the other is more of a scorer, both are great players. Not a bad problem to have, just causes for some adjustments to be made to your original plan if you expect one and get the other.

2014 Cavs lock up DeMarcus Cousins and Evan Turner (Just filler names. Just consider players of equalish value to Gordon and Lopez. Perhaps Harden in 2013?) to add to the core of Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Alonzo Gee, Boobie Gibson, Anderson Varejao, a 2012 (And possibly 2013) lottery pick, and a couple of the many draft picks the Cavs have had by then, ranging from role players to good starters. Minimal Luxury space left.

What’s the upside of the first group. Personally, that just screams “Atlanta Hawks” to me. These Cavs are building from the ground up. They need a solid base before they go for the cherry on top, or the mid-to-back-end of the roster will bite them in the ass .

The Nupe, no one looks at Jamison as a Final part of a champioship squad either. He’s an average rebounder, innefficient scorer with probably the worst shot selection in the league, and a terrible defender. The only thing he does well is create offense for himself, inefficiently. Its an asset the cavs value because they only have one other player capable of doing so, but any contender is not going to value that asset as you don’t become contenders without players that can create efficient shots.

If jameson gets moved, it will be for cap relief, not anything to do with his basketball acumen. And it will NOT be to a contender.

Mallory, you are right though hopefully we could turn sessions and jameson into more than a mid-to-late 1st round pick and another one in 2017. If the cavs management is smart they’ll only do short term deals this offseason (obviously unless eric gordon decides to sign here for under market value or some other fantasy scenario) so the hedo filler isn’t necassary. But in defense of this article, Jameson and Sessions have no value for the cavs long term future either so complaining about hedo’s future is besides the point, we are getting picks and not signing big FA contracts without knowing who our young core is. But I agree, especially taking on hedo’s deal I would hope we could get more than just a pick in the 20s and something eons from now for a promising young point.

But I would rather do this deal then do nothing with jameson and ramon walking. Maybe we could trade jameson just to orlando for hedo and redick and their first rounder and convince them with cap space they could sign a FA that would keep howard there like gordon or deron. Then we could flip sessions to the lakers for whoever and their late 1st. that would be two mid-late 1st rounders and jj redick. Any possibility? Haha except of course for convincing Orlando that if they have cap space dwight will stay, it seems pretty feasible.

Lastly, the Nupe, the only reason to take Rubio over Irving is his defense. Sure, hes a little bit better of a passer, but he also is passing to much more talented offensive players, translating in assists. And he’s also shooting a god awful 37% compared to irving, who is one of the most efficient high volume rookie scorers ever, and is still getting pretty decent assists for a rookie on a team where his go to offensive partner is antawn fucking jameson and thats it. Kidd, Magic, and CP3 never shot 37%. Please. Also, Irving is 2 or 3 years younger with 5 years less experience playing in the pros. Hand down Irving is the better offensive player, he does need to pick up the defense though.

This has been a great discussion. Kevin, I again state that I understand your premise. There was an article on a blog recently about this same strategy as an option for the Wizards. Maybe it was Grantland. The writer advocated taking back Shawn Marion to save cap space for later years.

I think this is a good back and forth. IDK if you guys comment on twitter as well. Hit me up @keithmokris if you ever want to!

Mallory,
Regarding being “suprised” by me…floating an idea that caused disagreement / debate was half of the fun.

Regarding your comment on the new CBA restricting free agents to 4 year contracts for a new team, are sign-and-trades still legal? What if a player will only come to the Cavs if a sign and trade for 5 years can be worked out?

I think that short term, large annual contracts are an idea worth discussing, but what’s’s the real difference between that and trading for an expiring now? My plan has a couple extra first round draft picks. Your plan would win a few more games right now and result in slightly worse positioning for the picks the Cavs do have. I’m not rooting for losses, but I don’t know how short term free agent contracts works out better in the long run.

HoopsDogg,
Regarding it being easier to trade when a team has cap space, the plan I presented still would allow nearly the maximum amount of cap space a team can have. To your point about signing one year contracts with veterans…same response as Mallory. How is that much different that what I’ve suggested. Basically you have a couple of less draft picks and probably slightly worse positioning with the picks you have. Ideally the #18 pick in 2012 can be someone that is better than the “bottom 20%”. The other players are filler, maybe they work out, probably not…at least they were cheap (Liggins and Goudelock).

Regarding throwing the money at quality free agents; what do you think it will take to pry away the players you mentioned from their current teams? Is it possible that any of them say they’ll go to the Cavs only in a sign and trade?

Matt,
You say, “But I would rather do this deal then do nothing with jameson and ramon walking.”

You bring up an answer to the question at hand. Without stating it in my post, this is the exact debate I was trying to start. The trade deadline is two weeks away. What is better for the long term future of the Cavs; letting Jamison’s deal expire or getting something, however minimal, for it?

I think it’s a legimate question and a legitimate debate given where the Cavs are now. Either way could work out for the best. I chose to take the contrarian view. It will be very interesting to see what the Cavs do in the next two weeks. If they trade Jamison, what do they get in return? If they go into the summer with a bunch of cap space…who can they sign and at what value?

Maximizing the value of each asset the Cavs have (current players, draft picks, expiring contracts, cap space, etc) with an eye on the big picture is very important. I think these discussions are fun, and am sure the Cavs are considering every scenario.

i had some ideas like this over on fearthesword. If we trade for a guy like Ben Gordon, he has two years left, is an improvement over Parker and Gibson at the 2, could play with Gee, you could still draft a wing if you wanted to, and it wont cripple our cap situation.

With Thompson and Varejao set to be getting serious minutes over the next couple years, we are really going to need guards and wings that can score. we have one, with Irving, but more help is needed

While I do understand where you’re coming from on your premise of the trade, I think the key issue here is what extra we get in return. When I say I advocate the signing of short term FA deals, I mean that if we sign someone for slightly above or below the MLE (like the Shannon Brown deal) there’s the possibility that that player can actually become a piece of the puzzle. We know that someone like Hedo isn’t going to be in the remote future of the Cavs, and most late 1st rounders turn out to be worth next to nothing. I would say that Shannon Brown (or someone of his skill level – Josh Childress, etc. etc.) is better than the average late 1st rounder.

Furthermore, I think The Nupe NAILED it in the Ben Gordon scenario trade. With a trade like this, we get someone who has one extra year on their contract but who is much younger and potentially of a MUCH greater, plus we might get an additional pick. THe truth is Hedo is going to be worth next to nothing when his contract expires – I don’t exactly see a ton of teams biting at the chance to add Jamison, and I think he’s a LOT more valuable than Hedo is – but a guy like Gordon will still have value as a scorer in a few years. Plus, if he works out, we could potentially have a decent small piece to go with our team.

The biggest question is, when discussing these hypotheticals, how many years off are we? I’d say we’re probably between 1 and 3 (next year, the year after, or the year after) so finding good role players should start becoming a priority. We’ve got our star, and we need one more decent piece, but after that it’s about finding the guys who round out a team. You’re more than likely going to find those pieces in the FA, not via the draft, so, at least in my mind, it’s best to play that field harder.

I really think adding a Gordon/Mayo/Wilson Chandler/Danny Granger type is EXACTLY what the Cavs need. Someone who can create with or without the ball in their hands, and who can take a lot of the load off Kyrie. This is why I actually think we’re much closer than people realize. A decent center is needed too, but We have two pretty good high energy D guys (Andy, TT) and a great distributor. Gee is a decent bench compliment, but nothing more. Add some scorers, and we have a pretty good team, especially since there’s some room for growth.

Matt, even prior to this season starting, there was talk about who would likely try to pick up Jamison late in the season for their playoff run. The Bulls were mentioned as one of the landing spots because they ‘need’ another scorer as a spot up shooter or could create some offense besides Rose. Last season Boobie/Parker were mentioned in a similar way, but they could not create their own offense, so Jamison is considered a better option and with an expiring contract may be a guy a team (such as the Bulls) would consider. Bottom line, Jamison is still considered an ‘offensive weapon’, not the type of player to be built around, but could serve as a very good 3rd/4th option for limited minutes, the expiring contract makes him a possibility for a team making a final push.

Also, defense is a pretty significant reason to take Rubio over Irving. Also, per the article, he get’s to the line on a much higher magin which says something about his shot selection being excellent. Also raking up fouls on the opposing team gets your team to penalty situation quicker, which is a positive impact. Rubio is living up to exactly what he was reportedly going to bring to the team – he’s a ‘true pg’ who distributes the ball and makes his teammates better. Kyrie, to this point is showing to be more of a scoring pg, than a passing one. This was also true when you look at his performance at Duke. I wouldn’t say that Kyrie isn’t as good as Rubio (I think kyrie is clearly better), however, I do believe that a Minny fan could make a reasonable argument in favor of Rubio. Like in the article that Dr. K linked, they only say the give the ‘edge’ to Kyrie, which means somone else could easily give the edge to Rubio – it’s just not clear (overall comparison, not just one guys offense versus the others defense).

The reason we’ve been able to compete so well this year is because Jamison has filled the scorer role. Find a guy who is high volume like him, with a little more efficiency and some decent D, and you’ve got exactly what’s missing. Hopefully this guy is a swing.

I don’t think anyone here favoring Free-Agency as a way to build will realize how turned-off players were by Gilbert’s letter to LeBron. No matter how good it might have made YOU feel, it set the Cavaliers back for a long time in terms of getting FAs.

Nupe, “even prior to this season starting, there was talk about who would likely try to pick up Jamison late in the season for their playoff run” That is not the case anymore, and rumors are just that. I haven’t heard an Iota of interest from any contenders about jameson. Bottom line is Jameson is terrible, and the bulls don’t have any cap contracts that make sense for him and even if they did, I’m not so sure Tom Thibadeu would want that defensive liability mucking up his game plans. (especially when boozer is a better option at the same position, and scores almost as many ppg much more efficiently) Most contending teams don’t have albatross contracts to trade, and anyone who makes $15million and comes even close to deserving it isn’t going to get flipped for jameson.

Turkoglu could just as easily help a contending team thin at forward in limited minutes, they are both pretty poor players. But in both cases, you need exactly the right scenario for a contender (for jameson, a team that really needs someone who can create their own offense, regardless of efficiency and defense, turkoglu just someone who needs to fill backup minutes at SF with competence) to go along with a gruesome contract to get rid of. Neither of them are likely to happen, but we know for sure that jameson doesn’t have realistic value to any contenders this year, where turkoglu still has hope for 2014.

lastly, rubio gets to the line more PER SHOT than kyrie, but kyrie actually gets to the line more often than rubio per game (in less minutes), rubio just doesn’t shoot much because he’s terrible at it. In a scenario where irving would take a jump shot he makes a decent chunk of the time or drive to the hoop, rubio passes because he knows he isn’t hitting anything and his guy is playing to far off him for him to drive, thus relying on his teamates ability. Rubio usually sets them up in good position and is a great passer, but still you have to have teammates who can do something once you give it to them. Irving’s teamates aren’t useless, but they certainly aren’t as good as Rubio’s in this regard.

Defense is the only reason rubio is in the debate. And it is significant, you are right, and he should be in the debate for rookie of the year because of it. But offensively Kyrie is easily the superior player. Defensively, rubio easily takes the cake. But here’s why I would tell the minnesota fan to shove it. Not for rookie of the year or anything, but for which player would you unequivocally rather have: Rubio has been a professional athlete with no other obligations playing against other professionals for 5 years, Kyrie’s been doing it for 3 months. Kyrie has the athleticism and smarts to be a good defender, but he has about 40 games under his belt where he isn’t defending High Schoolers. And during those 40 games he’s been relied upon to carry the offense (heavily for the cavs). I have a feeling its something he’ll get a whole lot better at. It may never be his strong suite and I don’t envision him making any all defensive teams, but I also don’t know how a 21 year old rubio who has been living the professional basketball life for 5 years now is going to significantly improve his shooting stroke and finishing ability.

That said, they are both great young players, but Irving quite decisively is the more valuable asset.

I do like the idea the article presents in taking on a few bad contracts to avoid overspending on free agents too soon (due to the new CBA pressure on cap space). Over paying now would not necessarily put us at title contention. You’d see the Cavs more of a Hawks/Grizzles type of team with talent but not enough to go all the way. Bad contracts actually would solve this by securing big money to a few people, leaving the team from doing something stupid like making the playoffs too early (and ruining our chances at talented lottery players). My only reservation would be the Hedo deal brings a player that is neither exciting, nor useful should our team find itself in a position of competition sooner than expected (with Irving’s development you have to assume this is possible). Here is my bad contract deal:

At some point the Warriors will have to admit they cannot get Dwight Howard. When they do they then admit they do not have enough pieces right now. Those bad contracts? They have plenty. And if they want a shot at rebuilding they need to get out of them fast. How this benefits Cleveland is simple, we get back a high scoring SG and a C who desperately needs a new start. Both players are 26 or 25, which means they match the youth movement we want on the team. They both instantly upgrade our two weakest positions (Varejao is a PF still in my mind). And they still present expiring contracts in the future. I know the story behind Ellis, but will he still operate the same way next to Irving or with Scott breathing down his throat? Who knows. But it does add the bad contracts we want, with potential skill or upside to both players (instead of a dead fish like Hedo), and it helps GS get out of horrible players to become buyers this off-season.

Mallory,
The “taking on a bad contract” plan leaves money to sign 2 or 3 approximately mid-level players over the next 2 off-seasons if the Cavs choose to. It does limit the ability to make a huge free agent signing.

If the Cavs let Jamison expire and trade Sessions for a 1st round pick, they will need to sign approximately $20 million worth of free agents this summer in order to get to the minimum level (in addition to Gee at $3-ish million). Maybe there is $20 million worth of free agent gold the Cavs can strike this summer… I’m not sure though. If the plan is to make a couple of small free agent targets and maintain future flexibility…might as well have Hedo on board. If the plan is to spend $20 – $25 million this summer, well that’s something different then. Depending on what you think Mayo is worth, he could be targeted with the cap space remaining in my plan above.

I don’t know why you say that most late 1st rounders end up being next to nothing. Look at any of the 2003 – 2009 drafts. In each of those, betweens picks 20 – 30, there are 4 – 6 players that are NBA rotation players. These players range from all-star to 9th man, but it’s nearly 50/50 on picking a player that could be a rotation player on a good team.

You nailed it – Looking at the 20-30th picks, you have a 50/50 shot of getting someone who will stay in the league. Beyond that, you have a 50/50 shot of getting a top rotation player, and maybe a 20% shot at getting a starter (probably even lower)

Considering that, doesn’t it make more sense, if we have the money, to sign a FA who we know can be at least a top tier rotation player, if not more? I feel like a guy like Gordon or Mayo or Chandler is worth more than a bunch of late first rounders. Maybe that’s just me, but I think those guys can be good 2nd or 3rd options.

Also, when teams trade a turkoglu or jamison and get a big return, it’s not that they’re trading that player. They are trading that player’s expiring contract and several young assets in order to get a much better, established player.

This was the case in the trades I mentioned in my post. Eventually there’s a team with a disgruntled superstar…the Cavs are sitting there with a huge expiring contract, 5 good young role players, one young star, several draft picks coming up. Basically, Cleveland is able to offer the best package for that disgruntled star, while also keeping a good enough team behind that the disgruntled star wants to join . It’s not that anyone wants Hedo (or Jamison), it’s just a balancing contract.

This isn’t an option for the Cavs this year for a couple of reasons. One, Cleveland doesn’t have the assets. Other than Kyrie and TT, who could they package with Jamison that would really make teams say “that’s a decent package”? The Cavs just don’t have enough to offer to be taken seriously right now.

Also no disgruntled star is asking to come to Cleveland right now. In a few years though, when Kyrie is an all-star and the Cavs are a 50 win team, Cleveland could make the short list of reasonable destinations of teams that have the resources and cap space to make the trade, and still have enough left over to entice the star.

Mallory, Guys who shoot as much as jameson and do so efficiently are all elite free agents, aka guys not coming to cleveland unless we way overpay, or can convince them we are contenders and that sort of thing is important to them. you know, something that will be a lot easier to do in 2014 where our draft picks become somewhat known commodities, Kyrie has made an all star game or 2.

But that’s where our differences lie, you think we have a shot at being a contender next year or the year after, I do not. Kyrie, Andy, Gee, FA X who might actually come to cleveland currently, and a late lottery pick is not going to contend with durant and lebron next year, and any FA knows that. it might be the foundation for competing with them, but next year is way too soon. which means we’ll be paying FAs more this offseason than we would be in 2014 if we draft well. If we suck out in the draft, we are hopeless to compete anyways.

but really, look here http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/field-goals/sort/avgFieldGoalsAttempted, 15 players shoot as much as jameson, and none of them are coming to cleveland without garanteed contention unless we overpay. If we are going to overpay, I’d rather do it when we know we’ll be competing and when we know how the player we overpay will fit in with our other assets. Right now half our other assets are draft picks so that is impossible.

Mallory,
Why not take the draft picks now and sign the equivalent of Mayo or Chandler in 2014? If the Cavs sign $20 – $25 million worth of free agents this summer to 4 year deals, their team moving forward is pretty much Irving, Thompson, 2012 pick, those free agents and Varejao. Is that good enough?

If you sign 1 or 2 year contracts this summer, as noted before, that doesn’t seem to have any benefit over just taking the “bad” contract.

With the near term expiring contract, it seems the team’s options are so much more limitless. Extra draft picks, near term cap space, potentially a huge trade…i like that as a plan moving forward.

Mallory, just curious, what are these FA’s that you so desperately want this offseason that cost more than $8mil/year (which we’d still have to work with in this scenario) and won’t be replaceable interchangeable with whats available in 2014, when our young assets start actually acclimating to the NBA game? I assure you know matter what we do in the next 2 years we are not winning a championship, so unless you dissagree with that what is the harm in waiting to sign a huge free agent until Cleveland is a more attractive destination and we know what our draft picks turn into? and in 2014, assuming we just get the same level of FA at the same overpriced cost we would have gotten this year, isn’t getting an extra 50% chance at a rotation player strictly a benefit? (along with not having those FA’s hurt our 2013 and 2014 draft positions worse than hedo would)

Patience please!

With this plan if there is a solid young FA who can be had for a reasonable price we would still be able to sign him. I’d prefer not to overpay now when we can always overpay later, but might not have to.

We know we’re not a premiere free agency location, that much is obviously. Also, we know that we have an owner who is willing to spend WAY beyond the cap limit to win, again, this is a definite.

We also know that, if given the chance, we’re going to resign Kyrie for the max (barring an injury or something)

We also assume here that Andy is sticking around.

With that formula, in 2013 we’ll likely be giving Kyrie a big time extension, meaning we’ll start closing in closer to the cap threshold. This means that we cannot sign a long term FA there.

I’m not sure why everyone is so concern with staying below the cap. Obviously for flexibility, but beyond that, there is no reason – if we can get any remotely big FA to sign with us, that’s a total coup.

Cap is much less valuable to a small market team with an owner who is willing to pay largely because we can’t do as much with it. I realize that the method of signing a big FA didn’t work with Lebron, but if Hughes had turned out to be even half decent, we’d all be singing a different song.

The point is, we have the ability to spend money and there’s really no incentive to keep pushing off our ability to sign a long term FA. Eventually, we’re either going to reach a point where we can’t anymore (resigning Kyrie, TT, and whoever we get this year) and lose our ability to get any FA at all. If we didn’t have any known long-term assets now, the bad contract method would be great. That being said, if we have the chance to get a max guy now, why wouldn’t we do it? We’re one of the few teams this year with a lot of money and a cornerstone. As the years go on, we’ll lose the money part, and making a deal will become increasingly difficult.

And just a random point about how awesome Kyrie is, there are 13 gaurds who shoot as many attempts per game as irving does, and only wade and cp3 score more points per shot (he’s tied with rose). btw, points per shot is a much better criteria for judging shot selection than Fta/Fga. the whole point of shooting is to score, so points per shot is the most important metric for deciding if your decisions to shoot were well advised.

Rubio’s points per shot? well he doesn’t shoot enough to make the qualifications for the list on espn apparently so he’s smartly not shooting much since he’s hits freaking 37% of his fga, but if you look at unqualified stats it puts him 33rd among just pgs.

Mallory,
Technically I think Kyrie’s extension wouldn’t be until the summer of 2015. I could be wrong and that is something I neglected to mention in my post.

Debatebly if in 2012 & 2013 the Cavs signed minimal free agents extending beyond 2014, they would only have Varejao’s contract (and it’s a team option) and rookie contracts in the summer of 2014. They could sign two max free agents to pair with Irving and all their accumulated players on rookie contracts, if they were committed to eventually being in the luxury tax once extensions started.

I like the flexibility of keeping short term deals for now. If those short-term deals come through trades that bring in extra draft picks, that’s even better.

” if we can get any remotely big FA to sign with us, that’s a total coup.”

No, it is not. Not unless that FA happens to play a different position than our best draft picks coming up in the next few years, and he signs a reasonable contract. I don’t know who in the upcoming FA is worth giving max money too outside of Dwight, deron, and maybe eric gordon, and sorry mallory, none of them are coming to cleveland. outside of that, we’ll have to overspend since we currently aren’t contenders, and pay dudes like brandon bass giant gobs of money they’ll never earn on the court. If you want, we will at least be able to do the same thing in 2014, even maxing after maxing a contract with irving. whats the rush to hurt our draft position and reduce which positions we can feel good about targeting in the next two drafts, all while throwing away a late first round draft pick just to watch jameson and session walk?

Seriously Mallory, who is it you think we can get this FA this year that we wouldn’t be able to replace in 2014 with a similar if not better contract? I understand not sitting on cap space just to sit on it, but here we are sitting on it in exchange for draft picks with the knowledge that we will be a hotter destination in 2 years than we are now, and with the knowledge that in two years we’ll know a whole lot more about our core than we do now and will thus be able to make more informed decisions in Free agency.

The only counter to this argument is that its possible we bomb on all our draft picks between now and then or kyrie somehow isn’t great, and we lost our promising future, and FA’s will be more hesitant to come here, not less. If we can’t draft decently or kyrie bombs then we won’t be contending regardless of who we could sign this summer anyways, so I don’t see that as a valid argument.

At SOME point you have to overspend, unless again, you get lucky and end up with 3 top tier guys (a la OKC) because, as you said, we don’t really have the capability of getting top tier guys to sign with us.

At some point, guys, we’re going to have to start building forward and not laterally, meaning putting together the pieces needed to build a real contender.. I have no real problem with trading Jamison for a longer contract (I’m mostly playing Devil’s advocate here, although I do believe in some of what I’ve said) but continuously pushing off the signing of one major piece is definitely not the best idea. If we can, like I have said repeatedly, get an OJ Mayo or Wilson Chandler, I think we need to do it. Those are GREAT 3rd options. We have a TON of draft picks right now, so adding youth isn’t something we’ve got to do. I think adding a long term vet should be a top priority within the next year.

Also, Matt, if you’re not gunning for the playoffs next year you have the complete wrong mentality going forward. There is no reason not to expect to contend for a playoff spot. This year I will concede is very debatable, but (assuming we don’t make the playoffs this year) with 3 top 10-15 overall picks, we do NOT want to continue losing – see Kevin’s article about the cycle of lottery if you don’t believe that.

Andrew: I had to laugh when I saw Monta Ellis and Andres Biedrins: one guy no one would take and another guy they’d never trade for Jamison and/or Sessions. Biedrins will end up being an amnesty player, thus denying us a chance to field a center and power forward combo that could fail to shoot 45% from the line, that would be epic.

Matt: Free agents who are probably worth over 8 million this year who the Cavs should consider: Nicholas Batum, Ryan Anderson, Eric Gordon, Brook Lopez, Gerald Wallace (if he opts out — I doubt the Blazers can keep him and Batum in that case), Wilson Chandler (maybe), Roy Hibbert (pipe dream), and… Jeremy Linn (who if his play keeps up moves into the #2 free agent spot behind Howard, and ahead of DWill, if simply for the huge Asian broadcasting rights the team that pays him will have). That’s probably the list. Notice who I said worth over 8 million, and who the Cavs should consider. Lots of guys are going to make that who won’t be worth it, would be a bad fit for the Cavs, or just won’t consider it. As for the Linn deal, it would make sense to sign him in order to use our cap space to trade him to a team without cap space.

Mallory, we will probably make the playoffs next year regardless of what we do in free agency this year, however what I said is we won’t be contenders. Again unless we sign dwight howard, no FA we sign will make us serious threats to miami and OKC or the bulls next year.

“At some point, guys, we’re going to have to start building forward and not laterally” Yes, and adding young high potentail talent is building forward. watching overpaid vets walk for nothing, just to overpay OJ Mayo or Wilson Chandler, Both pretty innefficient low potential players while giving up a draft pick isn’t even moving laterally, its moving backwards. Would we be a better team next year? Yes. Would we be a better team in 3 years? Almost certainly not. I want the cavs to win a championship as soon as possible, not to reach the playoffs as many years as possible. Perhaps you think that makes me less of a fan, your free to that opinion. But when you are in a city as championship starved as cleveland, I don’t want to just get close and watch kyrie go through his prime like lebron did with insufficient overpriced free agents. I want him to have at least one or two bonafide studs to grow with and a deep talented roster.

I most certainly don’t want an overpaid O.J. Mayo, who shoots 43% , as kyrie’s second fiddle on offense. I don’t want to pay chandler, who is decent but nothing specail, 10 million or more a year (we’ll still have that much to spend this offseason with the hurkoglu trade) to be a solid role player while throwing away a draft pick and potential trade asset (hurkoglu’s expiring, true it may not be worth much, but its worth something and could help us get a steal) just so we have a higher seed when we lose in the first round next year, when we can always get a solid role player for 10 million a year in 2014. I also want the flexability of when we are really close to contending, like when all our draft picks coming up and kyrie and TT and gee have some experience, to hand pick a FA to overspend on that will actually complement our core. I also don’t want to pass on the best player available to us in the next two drafts because they play the same position as our overpriced Mayo or Chandler or FA x. Alternatively if we do take such a player regardless of playing the same position as our FA acquisition, I don’t want to have their playing time and thus their value reduced because they have to share time and come off the bench.

At some point we do have to start building forward, but not at every point in time. You have to calculate your best odds. Nothing is gauranteed, and you can always blow draft picks and Free agents, but as a GM its your job to give your team the best chance of winning it all. That means calculating your actions, looking at the odds, and striking at the most opportune time. 2012 is not the most opportune time for the reasons I’ve stated above. You do have to strike, but you should strike at the most oportune time, and that time is 2014 in my opinion.

None of the guys you mentioned who are realistically coming to cleveland are crazy good free agents. Players of that caliber will be available in 2014, and may just come for a more reasonable contract. having the 5th seed instead of the 7th seed the next two years just isn’t worth losing at least one mid twenties 1st round pick this year, lowering our draft position the next 2 years while limiting the positions we want to target, and giving us the ability to hand pick a FA when we know who our young core really is. Under the turkoglu scenario we are so much better set up for when we actually have a chance for contending for championships, I don’t want to give that up just to have a better seed in the next two years, years in which we have no shot at winning the whole thing.

Definitely Mayo and Hawes. Actually Hawes could potentially be a sneaky good pickup for the Cavs – he’s a big body who can face up and “jump” shoot pretty nicely. And he’s really young. I like a core of Irving/Hawes/TT/Andy/wing man draft pick X/FA SG X.

Basically I I think it’s time to get our core together – you don’t want Kyrie waiting around too long for some good bodies to play with. We’d still have a little cap left after signing Hawes. I’d be happy with that.

Mallory, I also dont think you want to jump the gun in free agency without knowing who our core is. Impatience in free agency, and the desire to ALWAYS be as good as we possibly could be RIGHT NOW doomed us with lebron. Lets not make the same mistakes, kyrie is not going anywhere for 4 years. He is more likely to sign an extension if we have 2 years as bottom dwelling playoff teams and 1 year of going toe to toe with the best of them and maybe, just maybe winning a ship, than if we have 3 years of being a middling playoff team with little upside and a smaller young core that doesn’t mesh as well with our FA acquisitions.

I have to say, its tough being a Cavs fan at college in Virginia, as I really am disconnected from most things Cleveland. That being said, I LOVED reading all these comments and this awesome debate.

Kevin,

I am now really sold on this idea of possibly acquiring a bad contract, and put ourselves in position to make moves two, three years down the road. At first, I thought you were crazy for suggesting it, but this whole debate has made me see the benefits.

Mallory,

I would agree with you that we should try to go after maybe one or two of those guys on Hoopsdogg’s list, but only those couple of FAs. If we go into the mindset of “we need to acquire X amount of players,” we’ll end up pulling a Larry Hughes, Donyell Marshall, Damon Jones situation. I would say zero in on Gordon and possibly Hawes, and that’s it.

Gordon’s going to get near max money from someone (cough NY cough cough). Hes a great young players but I just don’t know if he’s worth spending our entire free agency on and risk losing out on Antawns and Sessions expiring contracts for nothing. Even if we gave Gordon max, I don’t know if he’d come. Hawes does intrigue me. Again though, these promising players may not want to come to cleveland regardless, to get them we would have to basicaly give up draft picks (trading expiring contracts for draft picks and cap fillers) and draft position for 2 years, we won’t be free agent players when we are looking for the last piece or two of our championship team, we have just as good if not a better shot to get similarly promising 2014, and the only benefit is we’ll be maybe a 4-5 seed instead of a 7-8 seed the next two years, and maybe we’ll win one playoff round before exiting, but exit we will.

To me as a fan, if you don’t have a realistic shot at a championship, your only priority is to set yourself up to have a realistic shot at a championship as soon as possible. No matter what we do, we don’t have a realistic shot at a championship in 2013, and its best to come to grips with that. Hurting a realistic shot at a championship, even a little, to move up a seed or two from 8th, has no value to me. I know others differ, but I want a championship, I want to contend, I don’t care about being able to say “oh look how respectable our season was.”

Gordon’s going to get near max money from someone (cough NY cough cough). Hes a great young players but I just don’t know if he’s worth spending our entire free agency on and risk losing out on Antawns and Sessions expiring contracts for nothing if he decided to go elsewhere. Even if we gave Gordon max, I don’t know if he’d come.

Hawes does intrigue me. Again though, these promising players may not want to come to cleveland regardless.
And to have a chance, just a chance, to get them we would have to basicaly give up

– draft picks (letting expirings walk instead of trading expiring contracts for draft picks and cap fillers)
– draft position for 2 years (only a couple spots, but still a couple spots)
– being free agent players when we are looking for the last piece or two of our championship team, when we have just as good if not a better shot to get similarly promising players in 2014,

The only benefit is we’ll be maybe a 4-5 seed instead of a 7-8 seed the next two years, and maybe we’ll win one playoff round before exiting, but exit we will.

The Lineup: (Click for Author’s Archive)

Nate Smith is an Associate Editor. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to NE Ohio in 2000. He adopted the Cavs in 2003 and graduated from Kent State in 2009 with a BA in English. He can be contacted at oldseaminer@gmail.com or @oldseaminer on Twitter.

Tom Pestak is an Associate Editor. He's from the west side of Cleveland and lives and (mostly) dies by the success and (mostly) failures of his beloved teams. You can watch his fanaticism during Cavs games @tompestak.

Robert Attenweiler is a Staff Writer. Originally from OH, he's long made his home in NYC where he writes plays and screenplays (www.disgracedproductions.com) some of which end up being about Ohio, basketball or both. He has also written for The Classical and the blog Raising the Cadavalier. You can contact him at rattenweiler@gmail.com or @cadavalier.

Benjamin Werth is a Staff Writer. He was born in Cleveland and raised in Mentor, OH. He now lives in Germany where he is an opera singer and actor. He can be reached at blfwerth@gmail.com.

Cory Hughey is a Staff Writer. He grew up in Youngstown, the Gary, Indiana of Ohio. He graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a worthless telecommunications degree. He can be contacted at theleperfromwatts@yahoo.com or @coryhughey on Twitter.

David Wood is our Links Editor. He is a 2012 Graduate of Syracuse University with an English degree who loves bikes, beer, basketball, writing, and Rimbaud. He can be reached on Twitter: @nothingwood.

Mallory Factor is the voice of Cavs: The Podcast. By day Mallory works in fundraising and by night he runs a music business company. To see his music endeavors check out www.fivetracks.com. Hit him up at Malloryfactorii@gmail.com or @Malfii.

John Krolik is the Editor Emeritus of Cavs: The Blog. At present, he is pursuing a law degree at Tulane University. You can contact him at johnkrolik@gmail.com or @johnkrolik.

Follow Me On Twitter

General NBA

Other Places To Find My Work

The Comment Monster

A monster lives in the comments section of Cavs: The Blog, and he likes to feed on comments. We have very little idea about when he will strike. What we do know is that comments with 2 or more links will get filed into the spam folder, as will comments with foul or discriminatory language. The comment monster also seems to enjoy extra-long comments, so if you have a long comment, you may want to press copy before submitting a long comment and break it into multiple pieces if the monster eats it. If you are having particular trouble with the monster, email one of us and we will talk to him for you.